Most British people are united around the view that immigration has harmed communities, a report from a Left-leaning think-tank said yesterday.

There are also fears among many that the nation’s culture and traditions have been neglected.

The report said that the great majority of Britons think the arrival of migrants has left towns and cities more divided – and that this feeling is strongest in areas that have seen large-scale immigration over recent years.

But the report from the Demos think-tank also said Britons do not want to turn the clock back and, unlike contemporaries in France and Germany, they remain suspicious about nostalgia and optimistic about the future.